The invention relates to a marine drive gear shifting mechanism. The invention is particularly useful in the marine drive shift mechanism shown in application Ser. No. 765,326, filed Aug. 13, 1985 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,630,719. In this type of drive, an axially movable central clutch sleeve element is supported for rotation with a main shaft and positioned between forward and reverse gears each having a clutch face, for which further reference may be had to Bankstahl U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,244,454 and 4,257,506.
The present invention provides a detent centered neutral position with a detent canister assembly which is particularly cost effective and accommodates existing tolerance deviations in the marine drive housing, without requiring expensive close-tolerance specifications. The invention further provides a detent canister assembly which is a self-contained modular unit inserted into the marine drive housing without the need for special assembly steps or sequences.
A detent mechanism is described in the above noted Bankstahl U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,454 at column 3, lines 28-34, and in Bankstahl U.S. Pat. No. 4,257,506 at column 3, lines 25-31.